Seahawks President of Football Operations and General Manager John Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald held the required predraft press conference with the media Monday afternoon. In Schneider’s 15 years as General Manager, he and his accompanying coaches, Pete Carroll and now Macdonald, never revealed who they would pick in the draft. So why bother having the meeting, you ask? Well, as previously stated, it’s mandatory, and at the meeting, it provides some valuable insight into the team’s process and possible direction.
STAFF ON HAND FOR THE FIRST TIME
One noticeable change from last year is that this is year two for Macdonald and Schneider.
It’s been outstanding, having the majority of the offensive staff. New staff having been through the process several times at different buildings and organizations has helped as well. I think everybody just has a better feel for each other naturally,” said Schneider about the chemistry that has built up between him and Macdonald. “ Mike and I are constantly evaluating the evaluators, right? It’s coaches, scouts, doctors, and trainers. It’s everybody. Yeah, just a much stronger comfort level.
PREPARING FOR THE UNKNOWN
With their draft board pretty much set, each staff member will be in constant communication with their designated team, preparing for the unknown.
“ What we’re doing over the next two days is really having our guys make sure they’re contacting the other teams, the teams that they’re responsible for in terms of trades, and making sure that we’re in the same vicinity because everybody seems to be using different, yeah, trading scales, points systems,” said Schneider .” You want to be able to move in a very fast manner. We want to get all that kind of laid out ahead of time. You don’t want to be in the moment and having to be negotiating a ton. There’s a certain level of negotiation that goes on there, but you don’t want to be taking up more than the decision-making process, more time in the decision-making process.”
PLAYING ARRIVING FOR OFFSEASON WORKOUTS
In addition to preparing for the upcoming draft, Macdonald and his staff are also welcoming roster players as they return for their offseason workouts.
“This is an interesting timing for me, like, as a coach, because normally you’re about a week or two into the process as draft week comes up. I’m excited to start our process as a team to see how everything will come into focus over the next eight to 10 weeks and into camp. I’m really excited about our guys. Just today a lot of the guys are starting to trickle in. We start officially tomorrow, “said Macdonald .” Seeing guys we haven’t seen in a good bit. Just like their excitement for the off-season program. Feels like spirits are really high, enthusiasm’s high. We got a lot of work to do, but I feel like the guys’ mentals (are) in the right spot. We have a great opportunity in front of us. “
OFFENSIVE LINE DILEMMA
With the prevailing thought that quarterbacks can be overrated and that there are never enough NFL-quality offensive linemen from college, Schneider says he is well aware of the offensive line dilemma.
“I think it’s an area of need, yeah, absolutely. I think it’s been very well-documented throughout the spring. But it’s also a little bit of a lazy narrative because every team is looking for offensive linemen. We’re trying to create guys every single year. It used to be when I started in the league with Ron Wolf, it was a free agent had to have three redeeming qualities. Now, especially with offensive linemen, you have guys maybe in the fourth round that have two redeeming qualities: tall and long, strong and quick, whatever. It’s just happened. It’s not anything that anybody in football is happy about, to be honest with you. It’s an area that hasn’t been developed as well as the other side of the ball for one reason or another. I think it just fundamentally comes down to, like, if you’re going to be playing football at a young age, you want to go sack the quarterback and do your sack dance, or do you want to go block for a running back or a quarterback? I think it comes down to that. “
KUBIAK AND BENTON INPUT
It is no big secret that the Seahawks are in need of help on the offensive line. Charles Cross is entering his final contract year with the team. According to Pro Football Focus, Cross is the team’s highest graded offensive lineman with an 82.5. Starting center Olu Oluwatimi ( 64.2) and right tackle Abe Lucas ( 61.9 ) were the only offensive linemen ranked over 60. Right Guard was ranked 48.3, and left guard Sataoa Laumea was ranked 37.9. Macdonald was asked what input offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach John Benton will have in the team draft process.
”I think the system has been defined, and they’ve been running it for quite a long time. I think what’s cool about these guys, you could make the mistake of saying, Hey, we’re going to be really myopic, this is what we need, we’re not budging . They’re not like that,” said Macdonald .” They’re kind of seeing the whole player, then having a vision for how they would fit with us. Definitely understand, what we’re going to be asking them to do is really clear.”
BIG TAKE
What is clear is that the Seahawks have a plan and are sticking to it. With ten picks in the draft, Schneider and Macdonald know the kind of player they want and need to improve the team.
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